Do paradoxo à resistência : a contradição sul-coreana como elemento motriz do Movimento 4B

Abstract

This paper analyzes the 4B Movement as a radical consequence of the "Korean Paradox," in which South Korea's remarkable economic and educational development coexists with the perpetuation of profound gender inequalities. The research demonstrates how the South Korean state and society, while encouraging women's qualifications, perpetuate a patriarchal system that denies equal opportunities in the labor market, burdens women with domestic demands, and subjects them to a culture of systemic violence. This scenario leads to profound disillusionment, culminating in the lowest birth rate in the world. In this context, the 4B Movement emerges as a biopolitical resistance response, rejecting the four institutions that sustain this oppressive structure: marriage (Bihon), motherhood (Bichulsan), heterosexual relationships (Biyeonae), and sexual relations with men (Bisekseu). By strategically withdrawing from this structural arrangement, 4B adherents not only seek self-preservation but also expose the demographic crisis as a result of the Korean development process, not a female failing. The paper concludes that 4B is an explicit manifestation of the gender divide in South Korea, transforming the female body from an instrument of government maintenance into a battlefield for liberation. The methodology applied in this paper is qualitative with a case study approach, using primary sources such as official government statements, data from organizations such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and manifestos from feminist groups. Secondary sources include domestic and international South Korean news reports, as well as academic articles.